Organizational learning capability and battlefield performance

Аннотация

Purpose – While intended as a bridge between the concepts of learning organization and organizational learning, current conceptualizations of organizational learning capability still predominantly lean toward the learning organization side, specifically directed at profit firms. The purpose of this paper is to propose a four-dimensional model of organization learning capability that leans more toward the organizational learning side, specifically directed at nonprofit and government organizations in general, and army organizations in particular. This model is applied to the British Army in the Second World War. Design/methodology/approach – The paper entails a secondary analysis of historical and military sources and data. Findings – It is found that the British Army possessed only a moderate learning capability, which can be plausibly, but not exclusively, related to differences in battlefield performance between the British and the German Army in the Second World War. Research limitations/implications – The research scope of the paper is limited to the analysis of one particular army in the Second World War. Implications for theory reside in the importance of organizational learning capability and its dimensions to the effectiveness of “lessons learned” processes inside organizations